"Bob's your uncle!"

[Jan Ivarsson TransEdit]

Nigel Rees' Dictionary of Phrase & Allusion (Bloomsbury 1991, 1993) says this about "Bob":
"This is an almost meaningless expression of the type that takes hold from time to time, as another way of saying 'there you are; there you have it; simple as that'. It was current by the 1880s but doesn't appear to be of any hard and fast origin. It is basically a British expression - and somewhat baffling to Americans. There is the story of one such who went into a London shop, had it said to him, and exclaimed: 'But how did you know - I do have an uncle Bob!?' In 1886, Arthur Balfour was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland by his uncle, _Robert_ Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury, the Prime Minister. Could this be a possible source?"

Jan Ivarsson
jan.ivarsson at transedit.st